Field
Back to school 2026: 2,084 schoolbags already funded for the East
In Bertoua and Batouri, the first school kits of the back-to-school campaign were handed to pupils in September. Of the 3,000 schoolbags planned, 2,084 are already funded. Here is how the distribution works, and what remains to be done.
A distribution prepared with parents
Kits are never handed out at random. In each school, the head teacher draws up the list of pupils with the parents’ association, which then organises a handover morning. Families come, teachers welcome them, and each child receives their kit in front of their classmates.
“When a child receives their schoolbag in front of their class and their parents, the whole family understands that school matters.”
The first eight schools in Bertoua were served on 14 and 15 September. The Batouri team is continuing the distribution in schools in the town and neighbouring villages, until mid-October.
What a kit contains
Each kit is chosen to last the whole school year: a sturdy schoolbag, six exercise books, a French textbook and a maths textbook matched to the curriculum, a full pencil case (pens, pencil, ruler, eraser) and a solar lamp.
The lamp is not a detail. In many homes there is no electricity: without light, homework stops at nightfall. With the solar lamp, a pupil can study an hour longer each evening.
Where does the campaign stand?
The “3,000 schoolbags for the East” campaign has raised €31,260 from 742 donors, or 69% of the €45,000 target. It ends on 19 October 2026. 916 kits remain to be funded, that is €13,740.
A kit costs €15 (10,000 FCFA). There is no second-by-second countdown and no fake timer: if the target is reached before the date, we will say so; if it isn’t, we will say that too, and the remaining funds will go to the Full Schoolbag programme.
Demonstration story: Fondation Ndolo and the people quoted are fictional.